The End of Madness
by sparkles64
Summary: Three weeks before Harley's death, what events unfold that lead her to her grave?
1. The End

**Author notes: Alright so this is my first story, I've previously uploaded to JokerxHarley .net, but I've edited it a little because I wasn't really happy with it. So let me know what you think, I love reviews! Helpful criticism appreciated. **

**I don't own any of the characters, just writing about them. **

"Get off me! What are you doing?! What is that?!" Harley cried and thrashed about as Carsen pulled out a syringe filled with a sparkling silver serum and held it at her throat. They stood at the edge of the roof, inches away from the dip that meant certain death.

"Oh Harley, don't worry. You're gonna be fine. I promise baby." He replied, his grip on her waist tightening. "It won't hurt, that bad."

"Let go of her Carsen!" Batman yelled through clenched teeth. He, (to an extent) did care for Harley; he did care if she got hurt. She was just a sick woman who was corrupted by a deranged psychopath. It wasn't her fault, not entirely. The poor girl had just lost her husband and unborn child. It was understandable why she had such a breakdown and turn to the one person she thought she could trust, the one person she thought loved her. That didn't mean she deserved to die because of the things she did wrong.

"Sorry Batman, but I can't do that. Harley needs me, and I need her. We're one now. She needs this!" Carsen yelled moving the syringe closer to Harley's throat. It was only an inch away now, threatening to enter her pulsing vain. The sharp needle brushed against her skin ever so slightly, causing goose bumps to creep onto her body. She stopped thrashing, scared that if she did she'd be pricked.

"Alex please stop, you don't want to do this! I love you, I've always loved you. Please, don't do this Alex!" Harley pleaded, hoping that maybe if she told him what he wanted to hear he wouldn't kill her, or worse, poison her.

"Harley!" Ivy yelled, finally appearing on the dark roof of Wayne Enterprises. "Don't move baby, you're gonna be okay. I promise!"

"No, I don't think she will be!" Carsen growled at the redhead as syringe punctured Harley's neck and emptied into her bloodstream.

"No!" Batman and Ivy screamed, both lunging towards Carsen and Harley.

Batman had reached them first, his gloved hand reaching for Carsen as Ivy ran towards a wobbling Quinn. Batman griped the collar of Carsen's shirt and pulled him to face level, as the man was slightly shorter than the Caped Crusader.

"What was in the syringe Carsen?!" He yelled. Harley's face was turning a pale sick color as she struggled to stand.

By the time Ivy grabbed her hand she was falling. She heard a load scream and in the blink of an eye, Harley's soft ivory skin was gone.

Ivy tried to save her, her hands reached out to grab her again, but it was no use. Ivy watched as her best friend (and sometimes lover) fell to the cement floor. She felt her rage grow inside as she saw her friend lay on the ground, a large pool of blood forming around her lifeless body, her head smashed into chunks of brain, blood, bone and hair. Even at that high of a height Ivy could still see Harley's body perfectly, Harley's big cloudy blue orbs frozen with fear, her usually rosy cheeks drained of all color, her lips matching her snow white skin tone.

Ivy had hopped it was all a dream, hopped it was just Jonathan yanking her chain, or the clown playing a nasty prank on her… but she wasn't stupid, no, she knew better.

It was finally the end of Harley Quinn.


	2. Three Weeks Prior

**Author Notes: Here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy! Please review, I love reviews.**

**I don't own any of the characters, just using them for a little while.**

Harley was lying on the cold marble of the bathroom clutching her ribs, she could feel three ribs were broken, and her knee cap felt shattered, but she wasn't sure if it really was. She had a swollen lip the size of a baseball, there was a long gash down her neck, her black eye was throbbing rapidly, and her shoulder was popped out of place.

_Geez, don't think he could have beaten me worse_, she thought to herself.

Harley had (yet again) made him angry for some unknown reason. Lately he had been randomly going off on her, beating her until she was unconscious, or just, limp.

Joker had just left her there, didn't even bother to tell her to go clean herself up, just left. It was moments like this that she truly questioned her sanity. Why would she stay with him, after all this time, after all the goddamn beatings and forced sex, why? That was a question that went unanswered for years, and she doubted it would be solved anytime soon.

She slowly picked herself up; she had almost been able to stand straight before she heard her knee cap crack. Screaming in pain she fell to the floor with a load thud and clutched her knee. She had to get up, if she didn't she'd probably die from the god awful smell her body was emitting.

So pushed through the pain and stood, walked over to the shower and turned the water on hot. Taking a deep breath and preparing for the pain she turned toward the door and pulled her arm back to gran the side of the shower, she slowly lowered herself so that her arm would bend. There was a cringing pop and she screamed again, knowing she achieved her goal.

She stripped down and got into the shower, the hot water hitting her skin made her shiver. She stared at the blood tinged water swirling around on the floor, it looked so pretty. The bathroom smelt the way blood tasted, with a hint of cigarettes and whiskey. She listened to the water hitting the floor like rain; she loved the sound of rain. It was so calming.

The building was strangely nice. The company had just gone out of business, so it was still relatively in shape. It was an old law firm, in plain sight. Harley wasn't exactly sure why J had picked the place, she thought somebody would probably notice two clowns walking into an old law firm, but she kind of liked it so she didn't care much.

The bathroom was made up of black and dark purple marble, the sink, shower, toilet, walls, and floors. It sounded like it would start to hurt your eyes after a while but it didn't, it was quite nice.

Each floor seemed to be made up of a different color, the floor Harley was on (the top floor) was black and purple, the next floor down (29th) was brown and blue, and the next floor (28th) was green and silver. Harley's favorite was the 28th though; it reminded her of a forest at twilight.

Harley started to hurt too much to stand so instead she sat on the floor, letting the water run down her back and over her face.

She started thinking about her life before him. Her job, her friends, her husband and family, she missed it. She was happy here, with him, but she missed her old life.

After losing Joel and her baby (whose name would've been Logan) her life went to shit and he was the only thing left. She tried not to think about life before him, she tried to forget it, nobody wanted memories like that, they threatened to tear you apart and leave you in a pile of waste.

But, she missed Friday drinks with her friends and thanksgiving with her family (well not so much), she missed the late nights with Joel watching stupid reality TV shows and laughing at them. Now she was fucking a psychopathic clown. Hell, she was a psychopathic clown.

Harley finished washing herself and stepped out. She started shivering when the cold air hit her, Harley was never a big fan of winters in Gotham, plus the fact the building didn't have any heat didn't help. She didn't understand how they could get water, but not electricity and heat. Leave it to him.

She stepped out of the bathroom in her towel and walked to her room. She "wasn't allowed to have the same room as him" something about always kicking him out of the bed. Yeah right, he was the one who did the kicking; his feet were like fucking dolphins on crack. So, apparently being "fed up with _her_ kicking", he stuck her on the top floor like fucking Rapunzel.

When she got inside of the room she walked to one of the corners that held all of her stuff and grabbed her first aid kit and some clothes. She bandaged her ribs, sewed up her cuts, and put some bad-aids on.

Finishing up with her task she put her clothes on, a pair of checkered skinny jeans, a red tank, and black combat boots. She walked to the long body mirror that sat against the wall and stared at her image, luckily she was semi back to normal, she still had a huge lip and cuts everywhere, but, it was good enough.

She took a deep breath and prepared for the worst as she headed down the elevator to the 24th floor, his floor.


	3. Lessons

Joker was sitting in his office reading over a job, he had just beaten Harley to all hell ten minutes prior. He'd been quite angry the past few weeks, and Harley wasn't helping. Of course, when did she ever?

She'd yet again failed to listen to his instructions. He'd told her not to leave the warehouse, that was it, simple, but Harley being Harley, she did. Which caused an amazing plan go to shit.

He had a chance to ice the little bird freak but Harley got in the way. He had set a perfect trap, everything was working great. But because Harley didn't listen to his command, it was all ruined.

Bird-brain and Batsy had found Harley and captured her; they'd tried sending her to Arkham, but failed. She'd managed to escape. But because they'd left their little cave, all his plans were unsuccessful.

So, he had to teach her a "lesson".

His "lessons" never really did work with her. Harley wasn't the kind of gal' to follow the rules (not even his). That was one of the things he liked but also hated about her.

Harley was her own person; she had a mind of her own, that was one of the things that drew him to her, but something he quickly learned needed to be broken. She followed her own rules, it was her life and she knew that. Not even he could change that (though he tried).

He was drawing out yet another plan for the Bat and the birdy when he heard her loud scream and a thud.

"Ah she's awake, must have broken something." He chuckled to himself. He then heard her turn the water on and carried on with his work.

He had his favorite crayon color in his hand as he drew up his plans. It was a beautiful purple, violet to be specific. His tongue flicked about behind his teeth as scribbles of this and that (and a few smiley faces) danced around the page.

It was about thirty minutes later when he heard the water shut off.

"Geez, how long does it take to take a damn shower?" He asked himself. Ten minutes later and he heard the elevator. His signature smile came around knowing she was coming.

With a load _ding_ the doors opened and here she stood.

"This should be good." He laughed.

Harley stepped out of the elevator and walked over to the glass door that led to Joker's office. Being a law firm and all, the rooms were mostly glass (well all of them actually).

The room Joker was in was what looked like a conference room. It had a big long table in the middle of the room with chairs around it; there was a TV in the wall, and a white board next to it. The room was now trashed with papers and weapons, there was newspaper taped all over the window that looked over Gotham City except for a little spot of to the side.

Joker was writing up some plan to kill Bird-brain when Harley walked in. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say (if she was going to say anything). What do you say?

"Hey I'm gonna go out, do you need anything?" That was the first thing that popped in her head and, well, she didn't really want to be cooped up anymore and she didn't really want to talk, so it worked.

He looked up from is work and stared at her for a second before replying.

"And, uh, did I say you could do that?" He asked his voice being normal, to scary as hell. But instead of freaking her out, he just pissed her off.

"Damn," She said snapping her fingers and shaking her head as if she was disappointed. Harley was kind of famous for sarcasm. "Ya know, I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure you did. So, if you don't mind I'll just be on my way, toodals." She turned around and headed to the door when he started laughing.

"Oh Harley, I do so enjoy your sarcasm! But I think you and I both know, you're not going anywhere. Whatever I say goes! And what I say is you're not leaving Honey." The way he said Honey sent shivers up her spine.

"Right, and what are you gonna do about it?! What, beat be some more? Look how much good that did you the first time."

Before she knew it he was on her back pushing her against the glass door, she hissed in pain when her ribs it the hard surface.

"Well, yes, probably." He replied shrugging. "Ya know, I would really-" He was cut off when Harley's elbow smacked across his cheek sending him into the desk.

She grabbed her leather jacket and ran out of the room to the stairs.

"Note to self: Kill Ivy for that damn serum." He sighed smacked his lips and touching his cheek. He got up and walked over to the part of the window that wasn't covered in newspaper, Harley was walking out of the building into the ally of some bar.

"I'll have to kill her too." He rolled his eyes and carried on with his papers.


	4. Two-Faces Friends

Harley tore through the hallways of the law firm to the stairs, body screaming in pain from all the motion, ribs burning like a bonfire and kneecap barely working. She hadn't exactly planed out where her destination would be, but she knew she had to get out of there.

When she reached the bottom stairs she realized he wasn't chasing her, deciding to stop running, she put her jacket on and headed for the back exit.

It was winter in Gotham so naturally it was freezing. The cold air hit Harley harder then she would have liked, causing her muscles to tense up, the wind felt great on her cuts though.

She walked to an ally behind the bar across the street from the law firm, and was greeted with the smell of most allies' in Gotham: piss, beer and cigarettes.

"Ahh, the wind is cold, the air is fresh. What a wonderful day it is." She said taking in a deep breath with a smile, wincing at the pain in her ribs.

Harley walked up to the back entrance of the bar and knocked. After a minute the door swung open and there stood Carlos Collins, the bar owner.

"Eh, Harley, please come in!" He said with open arms covered in tattoos.

"Thanks Carlos, I appreciate it." She smiled and stepped passed him into the dark lit hallway, then preceded to the open room.

The place was nice, it wasn't upper class, but still nice. There was a wall behind the bar covered in different alcohols and glasses, the tall bar stools surrounding the long table were vacant, as was the stage off to the right. Most of the bar was black; probably had something to do with the name: the Black Apple.

She went to take a seat in one of the formally plush stools that were now ripped and dirty, but stopped when she noticed the bar wasn't completely empty. A few quick strides and she sat next to the familiar two-faced man sipping on scotch.

"Twofers, or is it Harvey this moment? I can never tell these days." She spoke, motioning for the bartender. "What brings you to the ol' Black Apple?"

"Hmm, never seen you come out this far, did you and the clown have another fight, he kick you out again?" He asked, dismissing both her questions.

"Ah, so it's Harvey." She concluded. "Haven't spoken to you in quite some time, usually your counterpart is at my throat with insults and what not, it's refreshing to talk to you though. Oh, and no, strangely enough he didn't, we're held up at the law firm across the street." She motioned with her head in the direction of the warehouse.

The bartender walked up, a rag slung over his shoulder. "What can I get you ma'am?" He asked. She opened her mouth to reply before he spoke for her.

"She'll have a shot of Devils Poison." The short man gave a cert nod and went to retrieve the alcohol.

"Oh Harv, you remembered, I'm touched, really." She placed a hand on her chest and smiled.

"Here you are Ma'am." The bartender said putting her drink in front of her.

"Thanks sweets." She said with a smile and turned back to Harvey.

"Course Harley, if I recall a good amount of those and you wound up doing some pretty fun things with me." He replied with a wink.

Harley and Harvey had a short affair a while back, before they'd gone crazy of course.

He was still the DA and married and she was still a Psychiatrist. She was helping him diagnose a patient on a case he was working when one thing led to another. It had only lasted a month before they broke things off due to Harley meeting her fiancé and Harvey decided to give his marriage another shot. Then they went insane and never really talked about it again.

"True. But, I think we still would've done those fun things whether or not I was drunk or wasn't" She laughed.

"Wait… so you're saying I didn't need to spend that much money on you?" Harvey asked, faking astonishment and anger.

"No, that amount was still required." She joked, downing her drink in one swig then asking for another.

He chuckled and looked at her, his mismatched eyes staring into her sky blue orbs. "So really Harley, how have you been?" He asked, his tone becoming serious.

Harley stopped smiling and stared at the drink the bartender placed in front of her once more. "Fine… and how're you?" She faked a smile and looked at him again.

"Are you alright Harley?" He looked fairly concerned, though she didn't know why.

"Yeah, I'm peachy Harvey, seriously." She wasn't peachy, and part of her was glad that he had noticed… Red never did, not anymore at least, she only cared about her damn plants or lecturing Harley about how bad the clown was to her and how she had to get away, but she never noticed why she couldn't, or when she needed her to shut up and talk with her like a friend should. But she never did, nor did Joker, but of course, he never really cared.

She knew she wasn't peachy, no, she was confused, angry, in pain and fed up… but it wasn't like she was going to spill her guts to Harvey Dent. Not now, and frankly, probably not ever. Tears shined faintly in her eyes as she thought, she'd hoped he wouldn't notice, but he did.

"Harley please, for once I'm actually here for you if you need to talk. What's going on?" He placed a large scared hand on her shoulder, but it was slapped away by her thin ivory one as quickly as it fell upon her.

"Thanks for the fond reunion Harvey, but I don't want your sympathy right now. I enjoyed seeing you again, you look better than ever." Harley got up and put on her leather jacket, finished her drink then grabbed a hundred from her pocket and tossed it on the bar. She headed to the back door and left.

"Harley, wait." Harvey called after her, getting up from his seat and running to the door. When he opened it, he only met the cold, frigid air and a soft flurry.


	5. Past Lives

Harley had been walking for two hours since she left Harvey at the bar, and she was freezing. Her knee and her ribs were hurting, as was her face. But something about the cold breeze creeping through her clothes and the crunch of freshly fallen snow under her feet kept her going.

Everything had become so messed up. She couldn't remember much about her old life. Most of it had become a blur, at least the small parts had. Only fragments of those little memories had remained, tiny bits of details were mainly gone… like where she married Guy, where was their honeymoon, her pin number, when his birthday was, what was the name of their first pet? Funny how most of the things about him were gone, but, she supposed that was a good thing. If they weren't, the blow of losing him and reliving it whenever she thought of him would hurt a lot more than it did.

She knew that smart woman she once was disappeared. And frankly… she missed her. Only thing that was left was a beaten and abused, decaying little girl. If somebody were to give her the option, she would, just so she could do it all over again. Her life was good, she had a fiancé, friends, a good job, she had a life. Maybe she wasn't exactly _living_, just going through the motions, but it was good enough.

Then she met him. He changed everything; He showed her what it was to live, to_ really live_ and not just exist. She loved it. But like every good thing, eventually it came to an end. She slowly let him take controlof her, mind and body; She let him claim her as his own, his property, his toy. She _belonged _to him. And for a long time she actually believed he loved her, thought he cared for her. But after years of being blinded by his lies, she finally realized: Joker wasn't capable of love.

Even since the begging it was a one-sided relationship. She loved him, and he got a kick form it.

Harley was starting to get hungry and knew there was a café in a couple blocks; she and Ivy had robbed a bank in this area and gotten lunch there with some new found money.

After a short walk the café came into view, the smell of freshly cooked fries reaching her nose and making her stomach grumble with longing. She looked up at the sky; the sun was going down behind the skyscrapers making it a beautiful red.

Sighing, she opened the door and walked inside, the little bell on the door going off telling the people she was there. She quickly walked to the bathroom without anyone seeing her, fearing she might be a bit too noticeable with her appearance as it was. She pushed the door opened and locked it. The room consisted of two colors: Red and yellow. It actually started to hurt her eyes a bit.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Thankfully she looked like a normal person, well, save for the cuts and bruises. She pulled her out of her pony-tail and let it fall down her back, then used it to cover most of her face. Gotham had never seen a picture of her without makeup on so she doubting people would notice her as the infamous Harley Quinn of hate.

After finishing she walked out of the bathroom and sat down at the booth in the corner of the cafe.

What would have happened if she never met Joker; would she still end up where she was now? Would things still unfold like this, but have a different begging? It was an interesting thought, but it was short lived when the waiter arrived.

"Hello, my name is Cory; I'm going to be your waiter tonight. Can I start you out with something to drink miss?" He was a fairly attractive guy, though Harley assumed he was only seventeen because of the boyish looks. He was tan which led her to think he wasn't from around here, she hoped he hadn't chosen Gotham on his own accord like she had once; it was a terrible idea considering Gotham was the mother of crime. His short blond hair was spiked up slightly and he had a dimple on his right cheek, just where hers was.

"Oh- uh a Dr. Pepper and a vanilla shake please, no cherries though, I'm allergic." She gave him a small smile as she took the menu he was holding out. She thanked him and he gave a nod before leaving.

She looked around and noticed there wasn't anybody there; the cafe was completely empty (other than the staff). Dismissing her thoughts she started flipping through the menu.

After a minute he returned with her two drinks and set them before her. "Here you are ma'am. Are you ready to order or do you need more time?" His still maturing voice asked.

"No I'm ready, I'll have a number twelve with extra fries," She replied then took a sip of her shake. He wrote her order down on his notepad with a nod.

"Would you like some sauce as well?"

"Ketchup and Ranch please," She answered.

"Alright ma'am, I'll be back with your order soon." She went to take another sip of her drink before he politely asked for the menu.

"Oh gosh sorry, I do that every single time. Here you go," She laughed and handed it to him.

"That's alright, it happens all the time." He gave her a smile before walking away once more.

Harley looked out the window and watched the snow whirl around before it fell to the ground. It was almost was almost completely dark now, the red blending in with a purple and blue. She glanced at the clock on the wall, it was five twenty six; She was surprised she was still gone. She would usually be at Pam's by now rather than on her own. That got her thinking, where was Pammie? She hadn't seen nor talked to her in a few weeks, which was strange, though they weren't glued to the hip they certainly talked a lot.

Seven minutes later Cory returned with her hot food and his dimple smile.

"There you go Miss, enjoy." And with that he left. Harley was starving; she hadn't had something to eat since the night before so she imagined she tore into her food like a crazy person.

The food was great, as was the customer service, so when Cory took her plate and left the check she stuffed a hundred in it and left a fifty as a tip and quickly put her jacket on then left.

Because she was rushing out of the café she slammed into someone. The guy was built like a fucking brick wall and sent her flying onto her ass with a loud oof.

After the pain subsided she got up and brushed herself off. Opening her mouth to apologize, she stopped when she realized who he was: Bruce Wayne. She'd had a few run-ins with the guy from time to time (none of them good of course); he was actually a pretty nice guy, nothing like the news made him out to be

"I so sorry Miss, I wasn't paying attention. I'm really sorry about that." His voice was calm and caring, it was refreshing to hear someone actually care when she got hurt. The his face took on shock and he gasped at the cuts and bruises.

"Oh god ma'am did I do that?! I am so sorry I-" He stopped when he realized who she was, he didn't want to alarm her so he tried to continue, but she cut in first.

"Oh no, this wasn't you, I actually pulled this move before-bumping into someone and falling on my ass that it- and unfortunately I didn't get off with just a bump." She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry for running into you; I was busy thinking and trying to hurry home." She smiled the best she could."

He attempted to be casual, hoping maybe he could place a tracker on her. "What were you thinking about?" Was his attempt at casualness.

Harley looked away and thought for a second. "That maybe love isn't enough anymore." She replied, her voice somewhere in the distance, her eyes focused on nothing particular.

He was silent for a second, thinking of what to say. She shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled again. "Sorry again about running into you." And with that she turned to walk away.

"Wait!" He called after her, running up to speak to her again.

"Yeah?" She asked, her voice was so fragile to him, it was so different from when she was with Joker. Usually she was crazy and her voice was filled with anger and malice, she was quite scary. Maybe he should just let her go. She looked so pure.

"Nothing, I'm sorry about before." He said, Harley smiled and walked away.

Bruce had become convinced about a month ago that Harley was beyond saving, that Harleen was lost, all that remained was a psychotic, broken girl that couldn't be fixed. But the way that she had smiled at him, something so small, made him change his mind. There was still a chance.


End file.
